Creating an Android Application without the Eclipse Plugin

Creating an Android Application without the Eclipse Plugin

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This topic describes the manual steps in creating an Android application. Before reading this, you should readApplication Fundamentals to understand the basics of how an Android application works. You might also want to look at the sample code included with the Android SDK, in the <sdk>/samples/ directory.

Here is a list of the basic steps in building an application.

1. Create your required resource files   This includes the AndroidManifest.xml global description file, string files that your application needs, and layout files describing your user interface. A full list of optional and required files and syntax details for each is given in File List for an Android Application.
2. Design your user interface   See User Interface for details on elements of the Android screen.
3. Implement your Activity (this page)   You will create one class/file for each screen in your application. Screens will inherit from an android.app class, typically android.app.Activity for basic screens,android.app.ListActivity for list screens, or android.app.Dialog for dialog boxes. You will implement the required callbacks that let you draw your screen, query data, and commit changes, and also perform any required tasks such as opening additional screens or reading data from the device. Common tasks, such as opening a new screen or reading data from the device, are described below. The list of files you'll need for your application are described in List of Files for an Android Application.
4. Build and install your package. The Android SDK has some nice tools for generating projects and debugging code.